The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, December 3, 2013 - 3A
* The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, December 3, 2013 - 3A
DETROIT, Mich.
Tigers trade Fister
to the Nationals
The Detroit Tigers have trad-
ed starting pitcher Doug Fister
to the Washington Nationals for
three players.
The deal was announced Mon-
day night. The Nationals sent
infielder Steve Lombardozzi, left-
hander IanKrol and minorleague
lefty Robbie Ray to Detroit.
The AL Central champion
Tigers have been busy reshaping
their roster this offseason. They
traded slugger Prince Fielder to
Texas and also let All-Star short-
stop Jhonny Peralta leave as a
free agent for St. Louis.
WASHINGON, D.C.
Supreme Court
defers on state
sales tax decison
On perhaps the busiest online
shopping day of the year, the
Supreme Court refused to wade
into a dispute over state sales
taxes for purchases on websites
like Amazon.com, an outcome
likely to prompt more states to
attempt to collect taxes on Inter-
net sales.
Monday's court action means
"it might be the last Cyber Mon-
day without sales tax," said
Joseph Henchman of the Wash-
ington -based Tax Foundation.
It's all part of a furious battle
- also including legislation in
Congress - among Internet sell-
ers, millions of buyers, aggrieved
brick-and-mortar stores and
states hungry for billions of dol-
lars in extra tax revenue.
HONOLULU
Gay marriage
legalized in Hawaii
Retired professors Rod Pow-
ell and Bob Eddinger have been
partners in life since 1977.
On Monday, they joined in
marriage on the first day it was
legally possible in their home
state of Hawaii.
Powell says they wanted to
celebrate the beginning of same-
sex marriages in the state as a
significant moment in society's
movement toward equality and
justice.
The 78-year-old and 74-year-
old met 36 years ago on the
Manoa campus of the University
of Hawaii.
The state Department of
Health says it issued 40 licenses
for same-sex marriages in the
hours since it began accepting
applications at midnight.
Department spokeswoman
Janice Okubo says almost all the
licenses were issued to couples
on Oahu.
LONDON
French artist wins
Britain's top prize
A growing body of evidence
collected by U.N. investigators
points to the involvement of
senior Syrian officials, includ-
ing President Bashar Assad, in
crimes against humanity and
war crimes, the U.N.'s top human
rights official said Monday.
The statement by Navi Pillay,
who heads the U.N. Office of the
High Commissioner for Human
Rights, adds to the pressure for
quicker action on Syria ahead of
a key peace conference planned
for Geneva in January. The con-
ference, brought on by combined
U.N., U.S. and Russian diploma-
cy, would for the first time bring
the Assad government and oppo-
nents together for face-to-face
negotiations.
"As we look around the world
at the end of 2013, we see exam-
ples of situations where that
readiness of the international
community to act in time is
already being sorely tested," Pil-
lay told a news conference that
touched on trouble spots around
the world.
"In addition to Syria, where
the scale and viciousness of the
abuses being perpetrated by
elements on both sides almost
defies belief, the situation in the
Central African Republic is dete-
riorating rapidly, and the alarm
bells are ringing loud and clear."
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
SERVICE
From Page 1
plans to hold job preference
interviews with staff originally
set to transfer to the new center.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said the letter gets
across that the University has
opted to take the time to consid-
er about alternative structures.
Engineering Prof Faw-
waz Ulaby, who authored
the href=http://www.
michigandaily.com/news/
faculty-petition-shared-servic-
es-center>petition, said the Uni-
versity's announcement shows
the faculty has gotten the atten-
tion of the administration.
However, he added that the
University's response does
nothing but delay the eventual
AST implementation.
Ulaby said the University
should be terminating AST, not
setting a timetable. He added
administrators should form
committees to study the best
direction for University cost
containment.
"The fundamental problem
is AST is flawed and bad for the
campus, and it should be termi-
nated - period," he said.
At LSA's regularly scheduled
faculty meeting held Monday
afternoon, Pollack and Slot-
tow again acknowledged the
University's mishandling of
shared services and attempted
to assure faculty their concerns
would not only be considered
but play a central role in future
decision-making processes.
"I'm committed to cost sav-
ings because I have no choice...
but I'm also committed to
repairing the damage that's
been done during the rollout of
AST," Pollack said.
At the end of the meeting, the
LSA faculty approved a motion
to vote next week to support a
two-year moratorium on the
Shared Services Transition. The
motion has been placed on the
agenda for the Dec. 9 LSA fac-
ulty meeting.
During the question-and-
answer session, Dena Good-
man, professor of history and
women's studies, asked if the
administration would be willing
to abandon AST all together.
Slottow said if the Univer-
sity were to give up on AST,
administrators would need to
find savings elsewhere. From
conversations with Coleman,
regents and deans over the past
few days, Slottow said there are
still alternative options.
"While I understand the sen-
timent to say 'just stop it,' the
sense of a lot of people is that
that would be irresponsible,"
Pollack added. "It's our respon-
sibility to move forward, but to
do it right."
One faculty member asked
Pollack how the University
could stand behind the vision of
a few administrators while 1,100
faculty members protest the
very nature of AST.
"I trust the faculty more, but
I want to say this, there is mis-
information on both sides," Pol-
lack said. "I am with the faculty.
I am a faculty member."
Two faculty members also
raised overarching concerns
regarding AST. Two faculty
members questioned the Uni-
versity's relationship with
Accenture LLC - the consult-
ing firm with an $11.7 million
contract to implement the ini-
tiative.
Slottow said administrators
regret how Accenture's selec-
tion was communicated to fac-
ulty.
"That is a failure," Slottow
said. "I'm accountable for that;
I feel responsible for that."
Faculty have expressed
concern with Accenture's
fee as well as its reputation
and connections with Rowan
Miranda, the University asso-
ciate vice president for finance
who formerly served as lead
on Accenture's state and local
government and higher educa-
tion portfolios. In November,
Slottow released a statement
addressing faculty member's
concerns.
At the LSA meeting, Slottow
said AST is a complex program
- a program the University
does not have the resources
to carry out on its own. He
added that AST's project team
is composed of 24 University
representatives and 10 from
Accenture, aided by 100 faculty
and staff from across the Uni-
versity.
Slottow said the University
held a regularly audited com-
petitive bid process, during
which a number of firms made
offers for the AST contract. A
team of people from across the
University evaluated the bid
before choosing Accenture.
However, Slottow said the
firm has not performed at
the level administrators had
hoped it would and are "look-
ing at ways to reduce their
involvement."
Chemistry Prof. Charles
Brooks asked if the University
would disclose records related
to the decision, to which Slot-
tow responded by inviting any-
one to look at the Accenture
contract.
Brooks also asked why the
initiative's projected savings has
fallen from $17 million in reoc-
curringsavings to $6 million.
"As far as savings go, I have
been equally frustrated and
very angry with those num-
bers," Pollack said.
However, Pollack said the
decrease partly stems from the
University's decision to refrain
from running the transition like
a corporation. Instead of saying
each department needed to find
ten people to cut, the University
worked with department and
college leaders to figure out fea-
sible numbers.
Pollack said the University
never had any intent to hide
these updated projections from
the faculty but has traditionally
left cost containment projects
for administrators to grapple
with.
Describing the University's
established "paternalistic"
approach to cost-containment,
Pollack said there has been the
assumption that administrators
should make decisions regard-
ing efficiency and procure-
ment savings, allowing faculty
to focus on their research or
teaching.
In the future, Pollack prom-
ised to gather input from faculty
on similar issues, rather than
protecting them from some-
times painful cost cutting pro-
cesses.
"We've learned our lesson,"
she said. "I really do appreciate
the degree to which the faculty
is taking this seriously."
FACULTY
From Page 1
the administration's decision to
postpone the shared services ini-
tiative.
Many members echoed his
sentiments, noting that the
decision shows the voices of the
faculty have been heard.
Social Work Prof. Karen
Staller, chair of SACUA, said
the delay provides faculty with
more opportunities to par-
ticipate in the next phase of
research and discussion.
Laura Olsen, a biology pro-
fessor and SACUA member,
said that LSA faculty will ask
for a two-year suspension of the
entire initiative.
"In order for people to take
us seriously, we need to partici-
pate," Olsen said.
After revamping several
resolutions as a result of infor-
mation relayed in the article,
SACUA formally endorsed the
suspension of shared services.
SACUA plans to round out the
semester with a private meeting
with Pollack this Wednesday,
followed by a Regent's update
on Friday, a Senate Assembly
meeting on Monday, Dec. 9, and
a regular meeting with Univer-
sity President Mary Sue Cole-
man as a guest on Monday, Dec.
18.
BID
From Page 1
the 1950s, so leaving the plant
has been a difficult task.
"Moving out of here will not
be an easy thing for me to do, but
it is the right move for our com-
pany," Edwards said.
As part of an effort to improve
and enhance the Athletics Cam-
pus, the Board of Regentsap-
proved a $6 million construction
project to create a new building
to centralize its operations on
the Athletic Campus.
Moreover, the Athletics Cam-
pus will undergo a slew of reno-
vationsover the next few years,
including 16 improvement proj-
ects.
ORDINANCE
From Page 1
the Michigan Uniform Traffic
Code wording, which requires
drivers to stop or slow for pedes-
trians in the crosswalk, not
including pedestrians at the edge
of the walk or on the curb as the
Ann Arbor ordinance currently
states.
The tone for the evening was
set during the public comment
section of the meeting, when
Erica Briggs, chair of the Washt-
enaw County Bicycling and Walk-
ing Coalition, asked for opponents
of the ban to stand and raise their
hands. The move brough roughly
three-fourths of the overflow-
ing chamber guests to their feet.
There were so many attendees at
the meeting that city employees
opened the chamber's retractable
walls.
The turnout may be the result
of a request for public support
at the meeting that was posted
onWBWC's website.
"You're placing the blame on
the pedestrians for getting hit or
killed in crosswalks, not on the
drivers who hit them in marked
crosswalks," Briggs told the coun-
cil, describing the consequences
should the law be repealed.
The public hearing before
the vote brought overwhelm-
ing opposition to the repeal. Ann
Arbor residents - including a few
University students - passion-
ately shared personal stories and
pleaded to the Council to recon-
sider the shift in policy. Some
raised concerns that the council
rushed to repeal the ordinance
without a full engineering analy-
sis. Others expressed a need for
a pedestrian-friendly city and
the importance of ensuring dis-
abled people have enough street
access without having to navigate
oncoming traffic.
Rackham student Lloyd Shel-
ton said the changed ordinance
would be exclusionary. He uses an
electrically powered wheelchair
and said crossing the street with-
out the current ordinance would
be incredibly burdensome.
"It's about inclusion; it's about
having a society that is designed
so that everybody has access to
everything," Shelton said.
Still, the councilmembers who
sponsored the repeal did not
waiver from their stance, sup-
porting the consistency of using
the UTC law like the rest of the
state.
The initial vote to repeal was
sponsored by Councilmembers
Sally Peterson (D-Ward 2), Sumi
Kailasapathy (D-Ward 1), Jane
Lumm (I-Ward 2), Mike Anglin
(D-Ward 5) and Kunselman, who
eventually in favor of the Traverse
City language. Councilmember
Jack Eaton (D-Ward 4) was the
sixth vote in favor.
Kunselman responded to the
arguments of limiting the access
for the elderly and disabled by
mentioning that it hadn't been an
issue before and wasn't specifi-
cally mentioned in any previous
wordings. He said he is ready to
move forward.
"This has been talked about
since well last summer; we heard
some former candidates for coun-
cil who were talking about it as
they were out there this last fall,"
Kunselman said. "There is a dif-
ferent perception besides just
those that are represented by the
Washtenaw Biking and Walking
Coalition."
Speakers on both sides of
the issue spoke to the need for
increased education, enforcement
and improved infrastructure,
many acknowledging that the
wording of the law will not auto-
matically change the behavior of
either drivers or pedestrians.
Councilmembers Kailasapa-
thy and Peterson, among others,
spokerepeatedly in favor of these
efforts, regardless of the law.
"What (tonight) shows is there
is a great need for infrastructure,
and that's what I take out of this.
There's a great need for disabled
people, older people, younger
people to cross the street," Kai-
lasapathy said in an interview.
"What do we do? Put HAWK
lights, crosswalks, put lights."
U.N. says Assad may
be guilty of war crimes
Above: A view of Main Street in the 1860s. Below: A view of Main Street Monday.
SHOPPING
From Page 1
ings on going out to dinner."
Although Ann Arbor is home
to the University, Serras said the
restaurants are often expensive
along Main Street and draws an
older crowd than college stu-
dents.
"They're higher end; I mean,
you can go into them and see the
pricing on the menu. I would
say the demographic is slight-
ly older than undergrad; the
undergrads come when their
parents are picking up the bill,"
Serras said.
Maggie Long, managing
partner and executive chef
for the Jolly Pumpkin, also
said their primary business is
usually Ann Arbor locals and
graduate students, adding that
undergraduates usually live too
far away to frequent the area.
Long said patrons are attract-
ed by the local atmosphere and
"walkability" of the street, say-
ing the distance from campus
helps avoid the bustling student
foot traffic of State Street or
South University Avenue.
"Main Street is easy to read.
You can stand on the block and
look and see where you need to
go," Long said.
The street's accessibility and
vibrancy is not an accident,
Thomson said.
"We have lamp posts that
were put up on Main Street
twenty-plus years ago; they're
a little bit more decorative. We
have some mature trees, we
have our planter beds, we have
fairly wide sidewalks - all of
these things that you don't
necessarily think about as a
pedestrian but that does sort of
contribute to how you feel when
you're on Main Street," Thom-
son said.
LSA freshman Kaia Parenti
has been touring the city's food
scene with her older brother
Nicholas, a senior at the Uni-
versity. The two of them visit
a new restaurant every week.
Parenti has explored the dining
experience in many different
Ann Arbor neighborhoods now
but says that Main Street has its
own "welcoming vibe."
"There's a variety of different
restaurants and places to eat,
and they're all differentbutthey
all look very intriguing," Parenti
said.
While Parenti admits the
prices on Main Street can be
steep, she said she's happy to
pay to support good food, and
the money is worth the trip.
Adds pressure on
embattled nation
before peace talks
GENEVA (AP) - A growing
body of evidence collected by
U.N. investigators points to the
involvement of senior Syrian offi-
cials, including President Bashar
Assad, in crimes against human-
ity and war crimes, the U.N.'s top
human rights official said Mon-
day.
The statement by Navi Pillay,
who heads the U.N. Office of the
High Commissioner for Human
Rights, adds to the pressure for
quicker action on Syria ahead of
a key peace conference planned
for Geneva in January. The con-
ference, brought on by combined
U.N., U.S. and Russian diplomacy,
would for the first time bring the
Assad government and oppo-
nents together for face-to-face
negotiations.
"As we look around the world
at the end of 2013, we see exam-
ples of situations where that
readiness of the international
community to act in time is
already being sorely tested," Pil-
lay told a news conference that
touched on trouble spots around
the world.
"In addition to Syria, where
the scale and viciousness of the
abuses being perpetrated by ele-
ments on both sides almost defies
belief, the situation in the Central
African Republic is deteriorating
rapidly, and the alarm bells are
ringing loud and clear."
Pillay said the Syrian abuses
- suspected massacres, chemical
attacks, torture, rape and a litany
of other horrors - are being well
documented by an expert U.N.
panel of investigators.
"They've produced massive
evidence," she said. "They point
to the fact that the evidence indi-
cates responsibility at the highest
level of government, including
the head of state."
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minis-
ter Faisal Mekdad was dismissive
of Pillay's remarks.
a 4